Will Valve ever release Half-Life 3? The last Half-Life game ended on a cliffhanger in 2007, and since then fans have been analyzing Valve games and Gabe Newell speeches for hints about the sequel. The newest pieces of the mystery are a series of text files uploaded to Valve’s Dota 2, including the hl3.txt file that may be a reference to the long-awaited sequel.

A recent update to Dota 2 added three text files: hl3.txt, ai_basenpc.txt, and rpg.txt. Players have uploaded and examined the content of these files, especially considering that the first can be seen as an abbreviation of Half-Life 3. Within the massive files, there are a few items that might be Half-Life references.

The HL3 file contains these points:

“Quest Member? (Neutral to Combine and doesn’t take damage)”

“Combine Pulse Ceiling Turret”

“VR Chaperone”

The Combine were the primary antagonists of Half-Life 2, and Gordon Freeman fights against them throughout the entire game. The VR Chaperone may be a reference to virtual reality technology included in the game, as Valve is currently creating the HTC Vive headset to use in future games.

The RPG.txt file contains a “VR Movement” entry that could also be a reference to VR technology in the game.

Finally, the ai_basenpc.txt file contains a few entries on enemy squads and how they interact.

“NPCs that are in the same squad (i.e. have matching squad names) will share information about enemies, and will take turns attacking and covering each other”

“Wake all of the NPCs squadmates if the NPC is woken”

If this is related to Half-Life 3, these entries could explain some sophisticated enemy tactics or team-based battles. The Half-Life series is known for its advanced enemy AI, so these wouldn’t be out of place in an entry about another Half-Life game.

Valve haven’t said anything about the contents of these folders, but the fact that text files possibly referring to Half-Life 3 were added to a Valve developed game could be an early clue.

Do you think Half-Life 3 is actually in development, or could these files be related to a new, unannounced project? Let us know in the comments.